Jazz Music Essay Research Paper What is

Jazz Music Essay, Research Paper

What is Jazz? According to the dictionary, jazz is defined as, ?A kind of

syncopated, highly rhythmic music originated by Southern blacks in the late 19th

century? (?Jazz? 232). But, everyone should at least agree that jazz is

the mother of all music, and is referred to as the only art form originating in

the United States (?History 101? 2). America was home to immigrants from all

over Europe and beyond who wished to build a new life, or just needed to escape

from the old. These people, often thought of as second-class, brought their

culture with them to America, expressed it musically, and changed the music

world as we know it today. Most early jazz was played in small marching bands or

by solo pianists. Besides ragtime and marches, the repertoire included hymns,

spirituals, and blues. The bands played this music at picnics, weddings,

parades, and funerals. Characteristically, the bands played hymns on the way to

funerals and lively marches on the way back. Although blues and ragtime had

arisen independently of jazz, and continued to exist alongside it, these genres

influenced the style and forms of jazz and provided important vehicles for jazz

improvisation. Around the turn of the 20th century, the earliest fully

documented jazz style emerged, centered in New Orleans, Louisiana. This city is

often called the ?cradle of jazz? (?History 101? 3). In this style, the

trumpet carried the melody, the clarinet played showy countermelodies, and the

trombone played rhythmic slides and sounded the root notes of chords or simple

harmony. Below this basic trio, the tuba or string bass provided a bass line and

drums the rhythmic accompaniment. New Orleans jazz was just the beginning of an

entire sweep across the county. The first true virtuoso soloist of jazz was

Louis Armstrong. He was a dazzling improviser, technically, emotionally, and

intellectually. He changed the format of jazz by bringing the soloist to the

forefront, and in his recording groups, the ?Hot Five? and the ?Hot